You know when your hospital orientation is terminated when...

[CaLLaCoDe]

So, my thread is not just about me and my hideous experience with my preceptors and the management and my eventual broken hearted fall. No, let it be about you and your cathartic experience ( a learning experience) at a new place of employment and how it might have gone awry and how the markings of it were a dead give away: failure will soon ensue. Or could be about your complete triumph...a success story, a joyful new enterprise. Your work, the ideal of the nursing practice act so to speak... There are two ends to this thread, this beast... So, here it goes...me first ok!

You Know your hospital orientation is finished when...

Your preceptor uses the term "self conscious" to point out something you need to be more conscious of. You take the time to correct her English, knowing that deep down, since her English thus far had been amazingly perfect during orientation she might be grateful for your pointing this out. OOPS! Big mistake. She even says she knows she is correct in its usage and chooses to ignore your statement. OUCH!

God Bless you all...and wish me luck on finding work soon!

[burnoutward, BSN, RN]

Oh we are supposed to include funny stories about preceptors?

This preceptor I was with was a total tight wad and a bit obnoxious at times. Patients and their families complained about her to me when she was out of the room then expressed sympathy that I was stuck with her for 12 hours (OUCH!).

[CaLLaCoDe, BSN, RN]

When the boss believes everything your preceptor tells her. Such as " I never told him/her that I had gone over how to do such and such on the computer twice now and I will not bother to again." (Kind of a communication brick wall). What she told management is "I will look over your shoulder as you work the program" (a big fat lie!)

What troubles me is I have a track record of going out of my way with new nurses to the floor at my old place of employment. So, when I have a feeling staff is not making allowances for my awkwardness on the floor I've never worked on, well I just feel it's not right to be so petty to a new nurse. An experienced nurse mind you, but a new nurse to that facility.

I want to add that overall my preceptors at this facility were awesome. Really knew their stuff. It hurts to be shot down so early in the game. And not only that, I cannot apply to work in any other department at that facility let alone work at any of the other hospitals aligned with this hospital. Ouch! There must be a truckload of nurses floating around my community who, because of some silly reasons cannot reapply to work for this hospital system. I only wish this facility will have to spend a great deal of money getting agency nurses to fill the void and end up bankrupt. OK OK OK how petty of me!

[Morning-glory]

You show up on the floor and you are charge nurse and will be covering ICU while the RN in there goes to lunch. Excuse me? Can you repeat that?

I was a new grad, just moved to a small hospital in the middle of nowhere.

I don't think so. 8 hour shift that lasted 12 by the time I was done. Repeat this x 3 days and that was it for me. Bye...

[jjjoy, LPN]

...you're supposed to start the nights orientation and get a call telling you not to come in that night but to be in the nursing office at 0900 in the morning. Hm-m-m...so I brought my badge and all my orientation folders and sure enuff I was bulldozed into resigning. I asked if another floor would be better fit for me and apparently they didn't want to bother with the new graduate nurse. But that's okay, it was a blessing in disquise.

Been there, done that... or something pretty darn similar!

[P_RN, ADN, RN]

YOu sure this isn't me typing all this. My shortest job was when I got there first day ever in a hospital NO orientation offered, and they say OK you're the charge nurse, 3-11 on Peds. Do you have any questions.

"Uhhh Yeah, I'm sorry this won't work. I resign." 20 seconds I think.

[MNmom3boys]

I knew orientation was over when my first night shift on my own (as a new grad) I was informed I was Charge for the night...

[StrwbryblndRN]

I knew my orientation was over when I stopped getting feedback. I spent 12 weeks (I had a nice orientation and preceptor) with my preceptor up my but then one day....no more. I then spent the next 6 months asking questions and hoping if I did anything wrong someone would tell me.

Post orientation was hard. I recently adv my manager that when asked for feedback with previous shift if I entered orders ok and they say nothing. But later found out that it was not complete. And these are preceptors I am asking. So much for learning curve. My manager was not happy. I made a point of orienting with her for a day to clarify inconsistencies. Helped tremendously.

PS I know how busy our floor can be but keep in mind the preceptor's who I asked seemed to find the time to review what I entered but did not give a hoot if i knew what I did wrong. Let me know and could save everyone time in the future.

[Spatialized]

When you walk into the report room and the charge nurse hands you the night's assignment and says, "Sorry, we're way short. So you're officially off orientation now...here's your 5. Oh yeah, we have no aides either."

Would you believe I'm still there? (it's gotten much better than that!)

Tom

[kristenncrn]

I love this thread. I thought I was the only one.

I went from paperwork with my manager, videos with my manager, one week with a preceptor - then WHAMMO.

"We need you on nights, but you'll do fine. You have a lot of experience." (Yeah, as a 'helper' in a doctor's office.)

Same boss that hired me talking about how amazing the new grad program was at the hospital and how I'd learn so much... then scheduled me to work all the days I was supposed to be in those classes - and said if I did decide to go, they'd be unpaid. "Yeah, but you'll do fine..."

Fine? Bat-^#*$ crazy, more like it.

So no preceptor, no New Nurse Fellowship Program (though I bet somehow I'm counted as having been hired as a nurse fellow even though I never went to one class.)

When I "trained" as charge, same thing. I was "remediated" after my first try for screwing up - something I knew nothing about.

:sigh:

It's hard to be a perfectionist when you're forced to wing it.

[3rdcareerRN]

...when your preceptor whom you've had for an entire 3 shifts in your new job leaves and your new preceptor becomes whichever float/agency nurse can cover part of the shift...for the next two weeks.

I ended up with 14 "preceptors" in three weeks, each with their own idea about what I should do. Now THAT's an orientation.

I didn't stay much longer at that particular place.

[CaLLaCoDe, BSN, RN]

#1 When your preceptor is down the hallway away from you rooms 21 and 22 with the other two patients and you are left to your own devices at rooms 35 and 38 trying to remember how to input the data required to hang a new maintenance IV on the non intuitive computer program alone and afraid not willing to speak into your Vocera for fear of looking like a complete idiot. "You're an experienced nurse, you can handle it, right!" (an assumption by your preceptor)

#2 When you get peeved at your preceptor doing everything for you and not walking you through it. And you show anger. Because she leaves you sitting by your lonesome. And you notice another preceptor on the floor working as a team with her orientee and you wonder why not me?! ;-(

When you get peeved at the computer instructor: you just don't understand something regarding the computer program that was explained an hour ago that you unfortunately missed because the Education Tsar at your facility scheduled you to attend at 0800, however the class started at 0700.

When you are told that you have a tendency to become angry..".just look at these two examples@!" No sh*T SHIRLOCK!

#3 When it appears that the people are looking for stuff to fire you for (cause of some personality glitch) and not willing to make allowances for the silly stuff you may do because you may not understand the IV pump as well as they do, because it is a monster you've never seen before. When you feel that the silly stuff is brought up during the weekly managerial meeting to degrade you rather than lift you up.

#4 You're given a preceptor who has precepted students, however never precepted an experienced nurse. Your preceptor perceives you to be too assertive. Huh? What the heavens name is it wrong in being assertive? I thought that is what made a dynamic nurse?!!!

#5 When you're scheduled for the second computer class (integral to understanding the computer) the week after you're to have completed orientation. Oi Veh!

[CaLLaCoDe, BSN, RN]

i have had a lot of problems in the past attempting to "correct" obvious errors that i noticed in places of employment. i don't think it was the actual correcting of the errors as it was the commenting. i have since learned to just go ahead and fix a problem and not necessarily comment on the problem unless it is just too dangerous to ignore.:heartbeat

i will definitely strap this great note of advice to my forehead (figuratively k?). gosh, this advice really pertains to me and my situation. in addition, i made the mistake of mentioning little things i liked about my prior employer, big mistake. thank you sooooooo much, zimsaint!